Change of Format for Season 2 of the Gfinity Elite Series

The Gfinity Elite Series’ Counter Strike competition starts next weekend, with a newly revised format featuring bonus points and best-of-one group stage matches. The previous season’s best-of-two group stage matches have been shortened to best-of-ones, with two points being awarded for a map win and no points for a map loss. However, if the losing team manage to reach a threshold of ten rounds, then they will be awarded one bonus point. Due to maps being simply vetoed down, to one remaining map which is played, it is likely teams will avoid maps with heavy CT bias. This is because these maps often tend to finish with more one sided scores against the losing team, if they lose the CT pistol or second round anti-eco, due to the structure of the economy in CS:GO. That said, the semi-finals will still be best-of-three and the grand final in December will retain the original season’s best-of-five format, with the top four teams for the group stages making it to the semi-finals. Despite some changes to overall scheduling of the Elite Series, Counter Strike will still be played and broadcast every Saturday night.

As with last season, the matches will be broadcast on BBC Three, BT Sport and Twitch. Spectators will also be able to watch the event live from the Gfinity Esports Arena in London and tickets for week one of the Gfinity Elite Series are on sale now here.